The Symbol Maker's Tale
by Aki-chan3
Summary: A retelling of the High Ones' arrival on Abode - epic poem style! (but short stanzas and a simple counter, so it's easy to read. Try it!) ^.~


Disclaimer: The entire ElfQuest universe belongs to the fabulous WaRP duo.  
  
AN: This was an English assignment - write or retell a tale in poem format to go with the rest of Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales." This just covers the time from the High Ones leaving their home world and landing on Abode. I had leave out a bunch of stuff about the trolls and preservers, but I still think it's pretty good. So R&R!  
  
  
The Symbol-Maker's Tale  
Retold by Aki-Chan  
  
A primeval place  
Where no technology showed,  
Was the World of Two Moons,  
Now known as Abode.  
  
The humans were savages  
Living in caves  
Hunting for meals  
And nobody's slaves.  
  
Their instincts still ruled   
And when they heard thunder  
Their minds were filled   
With fear, awe, and wonder.  
  
During a storm more terrible  
Than ever before seen  
Out of the clouds  
Came a thing from a dream.  
  
A palace it was  
And the savages found  
That it glowed like a jewel  
As it settled to the ground.  
  
As the hole in the heavens   
Slowly faded away  
The humans somehow knew  
No good would come of this day.  
  
For from deep inside  
The strange "mountain thing"  
The sound of voices  
Leaked through the laticing.  
  
Great doors swung open  
And out of them tumbled  
The innocent elves  
Into the land where they'd stumbled.  
  
Their original planet,  
Light-years away.  
Had slowly withered and died  
As its sun faded away.  
  
Not wanting to perish  
They had gathered together  
What few creatures were left  
Hiding out in the heather.  
  
And using the magic  
They'd mastered so well  
They built dozens of capsules  
In which they would dwell.  
  
Each floating shell  
Went its separate way.  
It is just one of these  
That I speak of today.  
  
It flew for millennia  
Through glittering stars  
Visiting many worlds  
(Perhaps even ours!).  
  
Some planets they stopped at  
Were but dead and cold  
Others teeming with life,  
Stranger than can be told.  
  
But loneliness caught up with them  
And they made up their mind  
To search through the skies  
For signs of their kind.  
  
Approaching Abode,  
They saw down below  
That of the other elves  
The humans seemed to know.  
  
For their legends and art  
Showed immortal beings  
That seemed to match perfectly  
The traits of elflings.  
  
The elves therefore reshaped   
Their bodies and their shell  
To match the descriptions  
In the tales the humans tell.  
  
They grew tall and slender  
With bright eyes and silk hair.  
The earthen shell they turned  
To a palace that floated in air.  
  
But something went wrong  
As they prepared their descent.  
The palace shook wildly,  
Its course was all bent.  
  
The trolls had rebelled,  
Slashing the guiders' cocoons  
And down the elves crashed  
On the World of Two Moons.  
  
Not only did they land  
On the wrong continent,  
But into the wrong time  
The poor elves were sent.   
  
Landing not in the Golden Age  
Of fine arts and learning,  
They found themselves stuck  
In the very beginning.  
  
As terrified of the elves,  
As they were of men  
The savage humans  
Were panicking, then.  
  
They struck out in blindness  
Fear of the unknown  
Overwhelming their minds  
Thus setting the tone.  
  
A slaughter ensued  
As the elves quickly found  
That their magic flowed weakly  
And they were trapped on the ground.  
  
The reason for their coming  
Remained always unspoken  
For the humans would not listen  
To so much as a token.  
  
The elves quickly learned  
To give as good as they got  
The feud did not cool-   
Instead, it grew hot.  
  
For countless generations  
The battle went on  
Man against surviving elves  
They would not get along.  
  
The elves murdered humans  
While trying to find  
A way into the palace  
They'd had to leave behind.  
  
The humans struck back,  
Seeking their revenge  
And so the cycle started  
Of a hate that never ends.  
  
This is but a few pages  
From a thirty-volume epic,  
But what I have to tell you  
Will sum it all up in a tick.  
  
Most hate is not caused  
By wisdom or wit.  
Rather, ignorance is  
The beginning of it. 


End file.
